Column: Party time for the birthday boy and girl of the sixties

Carol Forster

Back in ye olden days of the 1960s, children’s birthday parties were quite a thing.

I learned quite early on not to say those words, “Oh, I’ve got one of those already” to my own cost, when disappointed by an identical felt tip pack.
Mother was not best pleased to say the least!
However, after chastisement and a good manners lesson, the childish honesty gave way to many moments to treasure and recall.
So what did we eat back then at those children's parties?
Finger buns galore usually slathered with aalmon paste or egg, Twiglets, crisps and sausages on sticks.
Perhaps we would follow said feast with a small dish of jelly or an iced cake. Thus, full as anything, we would pelt around someone’s house and play hide and seek, sardines or, with the aid of the parents, musical bumps and musical chairs.
We would drink that strange orange concoction or perhaps a tad of Tree Tops, before giggling in the garden or playing with the birthday one’s toys.
Of course, many of these things haven’t changed much over the years, though the visit to a Christmas Circus did show the times.
Unfortunately, there were animals in the show, which upset me on two counts.
Firstly, because they were captive, which I disliked even then, and secondly, because there was no barrier (again health and safety) between us and the tiger who looked somewhat peckish. We could have done the return journey a few less!
At the end of the parties, we would be given a lovely slice of birthday cake to take home wrapped in a serviette and I often felt a little queasy at this point, after such an abundance of sugar.
However, not so queasy as the hapless kids of one Westmorland birthday party some years ago.
Apparently, a badger managed to enter the house, while the partygoers were out, helping himself to all the party treats laid out on table.
Not only this, but the cheeky badger pooed liberally around the place, no doubt horrifying the returning guests. Imagine that!
This should remind us that things could be a whole lot worse...
Happy Christmas and, despite the awful news, stay positive !